Prasanna Vithanage

Prasanna Vithanage (born in 1962) is one of Sri Lanka's most notable filmmakers. His films have won many awards, both local and international.

His most recent film Akasa Kusum (Flowers of the Sky) ran for a record 77 days across 24 screens in Sri Lanka.^[1] "Aagaya Pookkal" the Tamil dubbed version of the movie "Akasa Kusum" was screened in Jaffna on 1st of April 2011. It was the only movie premier of a Sinhala film director to have been held in Jaffna during the past 30 years.

Currently he is working on a film based on a short story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky ( A Gentle Creature a.k.a. The Meek One) which is to be released nationwide in both Sinhala and Tamil languages.n

Biography

Born in 1962, Prasanna Vithanage became involved in theatre on leaving school. He translated and directed Bernard Shaw’s “Arms and the Man” in 1986, and Dario Fo’s “Trumpets and Raspberries” in 1991.

In 1992, he directed his first film “Sisila Gini Gani” (Ice of Fire). It won nine OCIC (Sri Lanka) Awards including Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress.

Four years later in 1996 was his second feature “Anantha Rathriya” (Dark Night of the Soul), which he wrote and directed. It was based on Leo Tolstoy’s last novel “Resurrection”. It participated in several international film festivals and won a Jury’s Special Mention in the First Pusan International Film Festival. The film also won all the main awards at the 1996 Sri Lanka Film Critics Forum Awards (affiliated with FIPRESCI) including awards for Most Outstanding Film, Best Director and Best Screenwriter.

“Pawuru Walalu” (Walls Within), his third feature in 1997 won the Best Actress Award doe Nita Fernando in her role as Violet, at the 1998 Singapore International Film Festival. It even won ten out of eleven awards including Best Picture and Best Director at the Sri Lanka Film Critics Forum Awards.

His fourth feature “Purahanda Kaluwara” (Death on a Full Moon Day) of the same year, 1997, which he wrote and directed was produced by NHK (Japanese Broadcasting Corporation). It won the Grand Prix at the Amiens Film Festival. Initially banned by the minister in charge of film industry, it was released after a yearlong legal battle. It was given the release under the supreme court verdict. Since it has become one of the most successful film in the more than half a century history of cinema in Sri Lanka.

Prasanna Vithanage completed “Ira Madiyama” (August Sun) his fifth film in 2003. It went on to win many international awards and was featured prominently in the world festival circuit. In 2007, Vithanage co-produced the hit film “Machan” a comedy about a group of working class con artists posing as a handball team, directed by “The Full Monty” producer Uberto Pasolini. “Machan” premiered at the 65th Venice Film Festival in 2008. It was shown widely all over the world winning 11 international awards.

2008 also saw the world premier of Prasanna Vithanage’s sixth feature film as director, “Akasa Kusum” (Flowers of the Sky) in Pusan, Korea and screened over thirty film festivals to wide acclaim winning numerous international awards.

Personal life

Born and bred in Panadura, a suburb outside Colombo, Prasanna attended D.S. Senanayake college a leading national school for his secondary education. In 1991 he married actress Damayanthi Fonseka, sister of Malini Fonseka also known as the 'Queen of Sinhalese Cinema'.

Filmography